Editing - Digital Photo Art (Special Interest Group)

Contact: Gary Ford

Sign up for this SIG

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Photo Editing
When you alter an image file in a way that achieves your own artistic intentions.

In this special interest group, hosted by Gary Ford, members come together to share and build their creative image editing skills. 

The meeting is open to photographers of all skill levels. It runs the last Wednesday of the month, September through May. It would be best, but not required, if members had decent understanding of basic image
editing and have software specifically for creative work.

You can use whatever photo editor software you prefer, but most members will use Adobe Lightroom, Camera RAW/Photoshop, ON1, Photoshop Elements, Corel Paintshop, or Topaz Studio 2. Other creative products may be useful, if you have them, such as Boris Optics, NIK (DxO), Brain Fever or AI Digital Art programs. See some example edits on the right.

​Why Edit Your Photos? 
Starting with your original photo you can create a final image that represents your artistic intentions by using special effects post-processing tools and approaches such as:

•  Abstraction
• Compositing
• Mirroring
• Distorting
• Digital Painting
• Severe cropping
• Colour changing
• AI generative fill
  
  

Members with basic editing skills can join to just watch or attend the Standard Image Editing SIG instead.

​Meeting Format
Meetings are conducted digitally via Zoom. To participate you will need a computer with a microphone and camera, or a smart tablet. You must pre-register to receive the link to the Zoom meetings.

What to expect

​Each meeting will have two components:

Before/After Image Editing Exercise - you will be invited to submit one Before/After image set where you show the image as it came from your camera and then your edited version(s) of that image. We will view and discuss the images.

My Picture Your Edit Challenge Exercise - each month you will be
challenged to try something new by working on RAW images supplied by the host and we will look at and discuss your results. You can edit with whatever software you choose and however you wish to edit the images.

meeting times

We meet the last Wednesday of the month at 7 PM, for approximately 75-90 minutes. Each meeting has a theme:

• Wed, Sep 25, 2024 – Reaching for Abstraction
• Wed, Oct 30, 2024 – Compositing two or more images
• Wed, Nov 27, 2023 – Generative AI
• Wed, Jan 29, 2025 – Mirroring and Distortion
• Wed, Feb 26, 2025 – Digital Painting
• Wed, Mar 26, 2025 – Severe Cropping, Stretching, and Warping
• Wed, Apr 30, 2025 - Colour Changing
• Wed, May 28, 2025 - Anything Goes
• Wed, Jun 25, 2025 – Showing Our Favourite Work

See recordings of SIG meetings (members only)

DEMOS

• Demo: Adjusting perspective in Photoshop and Camera Raw
• Demo: Adjusting perspective in Lightroom and Nik PerspectiveFX
• Demo: Creative painterly looks using Topaz Studio 2 (note: this is a free legacy app, and is not future supported)
• Demo: Use masking to create looks using Topaz Studio 2

Digital Photo Art editing examples from IACC members.